1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to beach accessories and in particular to a bag with storage compartment which converts into a beach towel.
2. Background
Each year hundreds of millions of people go to the beach to enjoy the invigorating salt ocean air, a bracing swim in the surf and a lazy afternoon lounging in the warm sun. The health and psychological benefits afforded by these activities are numerous and virtually universally recognized.
Typically these excursions involve a car (or bus, train, subway, etc.) ride to the parking lot or train station nearest the destination beach followed by a sometimes long walk to the beach itself. Generally the beachgoer caries a number of items with him to the beach: sunblock, beach towel, reading material, radio, food, sun glasses, etc.. All these items must be carried from the vehicle to the beach. Fitting these items in an average size bag can be problematic: sometimes the beachgoer is forced to carry the beach towel separately from the bag due to limited bag capacity, which creates additional work and inconvenience for the beachgoer.
In addition, the beachgoer frequently needs to have his hands free to carry other items of beach equipment such as beach chairs and coolers. Many conventional beach bags make no provision for hands-free use (such as back pack style shoulder straps, etc.).
One approach to solving this beach equipment transport problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,393 granted to Rainey. This patent is for a mat foldable into an insulated bag. This design suffers the drawbacks of being semi-rigid (which makes it bulky to store) and no provisions are taught to render its transport hands-free.